Dozens of people have been killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in north-eastern Nigeria, officials and witnesses say.

Gunmen rampaged through the village of Azaya Kura in the Mafa area in Borno State, killing at least 45 people.

Shettima Lawan, caretaker chairman of the local government, called it “wicked and despicable,” AFP reports.

Muhammed Gava, the leader of a vigilante fighter group, told the Associated Press that heavily armed Boko Haram militants surged through Azaya Kura in several vehicles on Wednesday.

“We counted 45 bodies at the end of the attack,” village chief Mallam Bulama told AFP.

But others may have died after they fled into the bush, residents said.

The village is about 40km (25 miles) from Maiduguri, capital of Borno State.

In May 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in the northern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, vowing to crush the Islamist insurgency.

But Boko Haram, which translates as ‘Western education is forbidden’, has stepped up attacks against civilian targets ever since the Nigerian military offensive began last year.

It frequently attacks schools and colleges, which it sees as a symbol of Western culture, and was behind the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State.

Mafa and the surrounding area has been repeatedly attacked by militants.

About 30 boys and girls were taken during a raid in October, despite government claims of a truce. At least 17 people were also killed in the assault.

Some 29 people were also killed in an attack on Mafa town in March.

•Adapted from a BBC report. Photo shows a Borno community after a Boko Haram onslaught.